"Do you understand the world of humans, in which you could do nothing unless you were strong!"
-Bankotsu.
The Darkness Within Our Hearts: Chapter 16 - Spears of Death.
Anika glared hard at the taller wolf demon. "Do you wanna die or something?" She growled, her sharp nails growing slightly.
He sighed. "My name is Kouga."
"I don't care." Anika hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Besides, you remind me of Inuyasha, stubborn and stupid."
"Inuyasha?" Kouga repeated. "You know that brat, hanyou?"
Anika turned away slightly, still pretty pissed off. "Not really. What's it to you?"
"I can care less about that inu shit," Anika's eye twitched at Kouga's rude comment, she too was a dog demon. "...but he's got a fine woman with him."
"Sango?" She arched an eye-brow.
"No, you moron! Kagome!"
"So, what? You...love her or something?"
"Love her? Not only THAT, we're engaged to each other." Kouga said, but it was totally a one-sided love affair he is caught up in.
"Oh?" Anika seemed interested now. "I thought that human girl was in love with the hanyou."
"Heh! Yeah, right!" Kouga spat. "Inuyasha is just caught up in a one-sided love affair!"
"Really?" Anika sighed.
"Really!"
"Ok, Kouga. Let's go and prove that right now."
"Huh?" Kouga blinked in confusion.
"We'll find Kagome, and we'll see who loves who..." Anika smirked.
oo.
Bankotsu opened his mid-night blue eyes from his nap in the green grass, he sat up in a sitting position. "Hey, Jakotsu." Jakotsu peeked open on eye from his nap to look at his leader and best friend.
"What?" He asked.
"What would you say...if I wanted to retire from this. Stop being a mercenary."
Jakotsu shot up; shocked. "What? W-what do you mean Oo-aniki? You don't mean..."
"You know. Oventually this will get tiresome and we'll be older by then. I was thinking about settling down...maybe start a family..." Yes, Bankotsu is SO in character right now.
"Is Bankotsu sick?" Jakotsu questioned mentally. "If he's serious...maybe I should kill him, 'cause this is frecking me out...maybe he's a demon, taking form of Bankotsu oo-aniki! I should strike now while I have the chance!"
Bankotsu closed his eyes once again and laid back down, and kept talking to Jakotsu, who was holding a large stone in his hands and was gonna smash Bankotsu brians in. "Yeah, it'd be nice...what do you think Jakotsu?"
"GO TO HELL!" Jakotsu cried in horror.
Bankotsu then burst out laughing, still having his eyes closed. "I'm just pulling your strings!" He chuckled. "Like I'd ever stop being a mercenary!"
Hearing this, Jakotsu reacted quickly and threw the large stone away before Bankotsu could notice, the stone flew and landed on Renkotsu's foot making him yelp in pain. "Jakotsu!" Renkotsu cried. "You A-hole!"
"Sorry!" Jakotsu cried back.
Looking back at Bankotsu.
"Man, I thought Bankotsu oo-aniki was serious for a second." Jakotsu thought and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought he was fricken sick or something."
Suddenly Bankotsu eyes snapped open, he got up quickly and went to his halberd and picked it up. Jakotsu got his serpent sword but was unsure why. "Oo-aniki?"
"Someone's here..."
Then there was a battle cry of men coming from every direction, but they were no where to be seen. The Shichinintai became very alert. The scenery became dead silent, and the wind could only be heard thoughout Bamboo Forest. The Shichinintai looked around, but there was no one at all. Rusling could be heard but still, no sign of life, it wasn't hard to spot anyone, the grass here is short, there were no bushes to hide behind and the bamboo trees were tall and thin.
The Shichinintai were somewhat spreaded around the forest. Suikotsu was off somewhere alone, Renkotsu was with Ginkotsu, and, Bankotsu and Jakotsu weren't too far away.
"Ginkotsu!" Renkotsu cried. "Prepare for fire and blast the whole forest down!"
"Fire!" But Renkotsu WASN'T the one who called the attack.
"What the--!"
Suddenly from above bomboo sticks were fired at them, the ends of the trees were sliced off; making a pointed end.
"Aniki!" Jakotsu cried. "They're attacking from above!"
Looking up. Bankotsu saw men near the tops of the trees and using small daggers to cut off the tree and slicing the tops off, to make them more dangerous. In other words; throwing spears.
"Fire!" The Shichinintai heard again, long green bamboo spears were thrusted at them, the group of mercenaries separted from one another, and ran away in opposite directions.
oo.
Jakotsu ran through the green forest which seemed to go on for eternity, looking back, he see the men jumping from tree to tree; chasing after him and throwing spears but only to miss Jakotsu. One man through a spear and it just nicked Jakotsu's leg; leaving a shallow but long cut line. The small cut threw Jakotsu off guard and four more spears were thrown; one going through the left shoulder, the lung, back leg muscle, and the last one missed but left a cut long his neck.
Pulling out the bamboo sticks, seeing he was still alive, the men cut off some more bamboo and shaved the branch of it's leaves and cut the top at an angle; giving it a pointed edge.
"Why you!" Jakotsu roared. "Take this!" And swung his serpent sword cutting down the trees the men were firering from, they all fell. Jakotsu chuckled. "You'll regret you ever decided to appose me!" And with a swing, the men died, their blood staining the pure green forest.
Jakotsu took this oppertunity to regroup with some of his allies and ran back. But before Jakotsu reliezed it he tripped over a steel wire...Falling forward; he watch the result of the trap. There was a blanket of green grass and had opened up, reveling sharp spikes of bamboo, inviting Jakotsu to his death.
Waiting for eternal darkness once more...
Nothing happened...
Jakotsu peeked open his eyes. His face and body were a mere inch away from the spikes, looking down, he saw more steel wire was wrapped around his body, Jakotsu got pulled back and fell onto safe land, turing around he was Ginkotsu's massive body there.
"G-Ginkotsu! You save me!"
"Gishii."
"Hey, Jakotsu!" Renkotsu called coming out from behind Ginkotsu's firing triggers. "Come on! We gotta find Suikotsu and Bankotsu."
"Well, I see you guys are doing just fine...!" Jakotsu pouted, seeing how Renkotsu and Ginkotsu weren't hurt at all. "Lucky bastards..." Jakotsu mumbled and jumped on Ginkotsu.
Starting up Ginkotsu drove through the forest; knocking down the trees and whatever else was in his way. Driving, they soon came to a stop to find more dead men with Suikotsu crouching in the middle.
"Suikotsu!" Jakotsu called and ran over.
Suikotsu had killed everyone in the area, but seeing him crouching, he had a long thin bamboo spear through his chest and another through the left leg and wounds all over. He chuckled at Jakotsu's arrival.
"Heh. Heh..." He coughed. "Took you long enough...but, their all dead here..."
"Oh, shut up, you blockhead!" Jakotsu said and quickly pulled the spear from Suikotsu back and leg, making him roar in pain. "Come on. Bankotsu oo-aniki went down that way..."
"Naro hodou..." Suikotsu choked out and climbed on Ginkotsu.
oo.
Bankotsu stoll through the forest with men chasing him on ground and through the air. Chopping down bamboo trees as he ran, it proved to slow down his enemy and dissemble their airial attacks. Turning around, Bankotsu went for a full-frontal attack.
"Heh. Weak." He thought looking down on the dead bodies. Looking around he ran into an area of the forest where the bamboo trees are much thicker and harder. "This can't be good."
"Kill him!" Bankotsu heard someone cry out. As more men advanced on him, weilding their katana's before them.
"Heh." He smirked in amusment. These men where on ground.
"Fire!"
Bankotsu realized the the men on the ground was a mere distraction for another arial attack at him! Shit! He screwed up! The men threw the thick bamboo sticks, but Bankotsu saw that the bamboo spears weren't hitting him. Why? The spears were stabbed into the ground all around him.
"They missed...pathetic." Bankotsu thought and lifted his halberd...but saw that he couldn't move his arm. "What?" The thick trees were blocking and preventing Bankotsu to move his arm or any other part of his body. "They...they missed on purpose so they could trap me!"
"It seems you've figured it out, Bankotsu..." A female voice echoed.
Managing to turn his head, Bankotsu spotted Rei emerging from the shadows of the forest. He smirked. "Heh. So, YOU were leading the attack...I should of known. You've changed alittle since our last encounter."
Rei wore a short black and white kimono that reached down to her upper thighs, megenta colored sash with megenta ribbons lacing through the ends of her white kimono sleeves, and black socking materials that reached up to the middle of her shins and light brown sandles with strings made of the materials tied around her legs up to her knees to keep her sandles on and the her long hair tied back into a high pony-tail with more megenta colored material.
"It's quite the change in look for you..." Bankotsu said, meaning how she was showing more skin then usual, she was now showing off her legs.
She closed her eyes in anger but couldn't help but blush in embarresment. "It's not like I CHOSE this out-fit to wear! They just gave it to me!"
Rei opened her magenta eyes again walking up to Bankotsu; looking at her enemy in the eye. She gave the hint of unamusment and turned around, walking away. "Kill him." She order the other men. They walked forward with their katana's in hand. Bankotsu struggled to get free.
She turned her back on him. Not only it was rude...it was a fricken discrace to Bankotsu himself!
"Don't under-estimate me, wench!" Bankotsu roared. Using all his strength Bankotsu forced himself free from his bondage trap. All they men didn't hesitate to kill, and charged. The Shichinintai leader swung his blade, casting blasts of gold lightning; shocking Rei's men to death.
Looking around, Rei wasn't anywhere to be seen. Bankotsu dash towards the direction the samurai went, running until Bamboo Forest came to it's end, Bankotsu seemed to have ran to a cliff. He saw Rei sitting on a large rock, watching him with careful eyes.
"So, you made it out, huh?" Rei smiled. "I've been waiting for this...the moment I watch you die at my feet." Getting up, Rei walked over to a long spear with a huge sharp blade on the end and pick up her temporary weapon.
Bankotsu smirked as well. "Heh. I've been waiting for this too. I'll settle my score with you, then move on to Inuyasha..."
"Aww...are you breaking up with me for him?" She asked in a sarcastic-mock tone.
End of Chapter 16.
Anika: Whoa! Intense here!
Jakotsu: Yeah. Please review so WE can see more!
Anika: That's right, mortals! Review your butts off!
Translation:
Naro Hodou - "I see.", "Is that so?", ect.
oo.
The Darkness Within Our Hearts: Chapter 16 - Spears of Death. Complete!
Date posted: June 21, 2005
Disclaimer: Does not own InuYasha.
Copy Right of author, Rei Aiyanami.